NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Joe’s Corner is going to close … again. Just heard that the rowdy Niles bar turned clean and sober community center will likely close by the end of the month. A volunteer said it just didn’t get the community support.

Too bad. It was a really great place. Click here to read how wonderful it was.

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I just went to Union landing in UC. Every single restaurant there was crowded, even people waiting outside. I cannot find a single complex in fremont thats crowded, or where you have to fight for parking spot. There is no point blaming just the current city council. I think mayors and city councilors of last 10-15 yrs are to blame. Niles plaza is a disaster, they are pouring money into some old historic crap that no one wants to see, except maybe >50 yrs olds. Last time I checked median age of Fremont was in 30s. Pacific commons, Globe, the list goes on.

I dont see a reason why Whole foods would want to come to Fremont. I dont see a reason why any business wants to move to fremont. Fremont residents are the worst of NIMBYists.

While Andy and I do not agree on the merits of Lake Elizabeth his comment about expenditures on historic monuments holds some truth.

When KPIX aired their story about Ishan Shah running for Fremont City Council they used a photo of our long gone city government building in the on-air graphic. Remember the concrete fortress on the knoll in Central Park that was demolished five years ago?

I’m sure they used it because they couldn’t come up with a photo of any other Fremont building that was relevant and recongnizable for the story. Our current city hall is not instantly identifiable unless you happen to be familiar with the two concrete orb bookends located at ground level at its front entrance.

After giving it some thought I realized our city’s landmarks are all historic in nature, Mission San Jose, Shinn House, the Patterson House at Ardenwood Park, Niles Essanay Studio, Niles train depot, Irvington’s monument at Five Corners, Centerville’s train depot and the Chadbourne Carriage House at The Hub immediately came to mind.

There’s nothing wrong with having some history and our area of the bay certainly has it. But, as I’ve said before, while other cities have one district they call Old Town, Fremont has at least three or four districts vying for that title.

So what or where is our New Town? Pacific Commons? Ugh. It’s a big box store shopping center that looks like any other shopping center! And, what is a new, recognizable landmark? Please don’t say the water slides.

If they hadn’t billed it as “for people in recovery” (not that there’s anything wrong with that)it might have had a chance. I think the idea that it was for AA folks probably turned a lot of people away before they even got there.

They were trying (I think) to buck the trend of bars in Niles. And to Niles’ credit, there are only two now. Why not have just a coffee shop or a sandwich shop that just happens not to serve alcohol instead of a designated place for recovering addicts to gather?

And Andy, the reason there is never any place to park at Union Landing is the movie theatre and the really, really crappy parking layout. And it is THE only place to eat in Union City that is not seriously ethnic in some way.

Nice one, Irvington. And nice article, Matt, for what it was worth. Guess the writing was on the wall: “The club was empty Thursday afternoon and was hardly packed that evening.”

As for Fremont residents being the worst NIMBYists, there’s certainly plenty of talk like that on this blog. Yet I imagine that as in most interchangeable suburbs, most people in said town could care less about civic matters of any sort; they’re biding time ’til they can flip their townhouse. Ha.

Fremont is 5 townships joined at their fringes. Ever since I was born here we’ve been expanding the negative space of suburban sprawl between them; there’s no center, no Fremont community area or icon with which we all identify. Of course it’s full of NIMBYists, that’s all we’ve got is insular, high-fenced back yards. Aside from Niles, there is no place in town worth walking to within walking distance of where people live. Pacific Commons is an overblown rest-stop off the freeway built to suck money out of commuter’s pockets – it has nothing to do with, and is hardly a part of, Fremont.